Hill 'n' Dale Farms said Nov. 4 Midnight Lute will stand the 2014 breeding season for a fee of $25,000 live foal, stands and nurses.
Midnight Lute currently is second on the list of 2013 second-crop sires with $4,033,177 in progeny earnings. He stood for $15,000 this year.
Midnight Lute, who was campaigned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, won the Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) in 2007-08.
Midnight Lute, by Real Quiet out of the Dehere mare Candytuft, has several top runners this year including Midnight Aria, who won the $1 million Queen's Plate Stakes at Woodbine; Midnight Lucky, who took the Acorn Stakes (gr. I) at Belmont Park; Shakin It Up , winner of the San Vicente Stakes (gr. II) at Santa Anita Park: and Mylute, who finished third in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) at Pimlico Race Course.
"We are very pleased about the exceptional start that Midnight Lute is making as a sire," Hill 'n' Dale Farms president John Sikura said in a statement. "He is firing on all cylinders, siring a classic winner, classic performer, and grade I winner in his first crop, as well as siring top-class horses in the sales ring.
"With 14% juvenile stakes performers through his first two crops, we believe the future holds unlimited potential for Midnight Lute. While a rise in his stud fee is more than warranted, owners Pegram, Watson, and Weitman felt strongly that we leave room for breeders to profit when supporting Midnight Lute."
